Per Herngren is active in the plowshares movement which nonviolently disarms weapons using hammers inspired by Mike 4:2-4, beat swords into plowshares. Mostly, he writes in Swedish, but here are some of his texts in English on nonviolence.

Per Herngren

Per Herngren and Ulla Røder climbed over the fence at SAAB Microwave’s test range at Mölndal, Sweden on the evening of June 26, 2008, and planted fig trees in the area around the factory. Using blacksmith hammers, they started to disarm military radar and parts of the test range. They spoke to workers and guards about their intent until police arrived and arrested them half an hour later. (Thursday June 26, 2008)

Postprotest and arrested for planting

Per Herngren, his father, with vine and fig tree planters and plowshares, were arrested in the midst of a Pentecost service at the military company SAAB Microwave, Sweden. Read more.

Vine & fig tree garden and postprotest

Friday August 5, 2005

In the early hours of Friday 5th August, nine peace gardeners from Europe and Australia planted vines and fig trees at the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston, UK. After five minutes Ministry of Defence police arrived and arrested all nine of the planters. Per Herngren and the others spent 32 hours in the arrest. The sentence was one month in the trial, February, 2006.

Our suggestion is: Nonviolence needs to leave the reactive saying-no-resistance and move to a proactive resistance. Proactive resistance says yes rather than no, the aim is the way, where nonviolence is direct action.

Presentation

“My name is Per Herngren, and I live in the Fig Tree Resistance Community, outside Gothenburg, Sweden. I work half time as a nonviolent trainer and half time as a writer.

I have written a few books about civil disobedience and nonviolence.

Path of Resistance is translated and published in the US, the UK and Australia. Mostly, I write in Swedish, but some of my English texts are on my web site or my blog.

In my thinking, I am specially inspired by Foucault, Butler, Laclau, Deleuze and Luhmann and Gandhi.

I am active in the plowshares movement disarming weapons with hammers. I have served 15 month of an eight year sentence for disarming a Pershing II nuclear rocket in Florida; and some shorter sentences in Sweden and England.

In our Vine & Fig tree action 2005, and also in the trial 2006, we tried to avoid all negative symbols and messages against war or against nuclear weapons. Instead we focused on proposals, innovations, methods and visions. Instead of using theories on political influence and effect we were inspired by theories on how to write poetry and novels, and how to create art. We also used practical skills from the poets, novel writers and artists in our group.

And I love dancing salsa.”

Per Herngren is active in the plowshares movement which nonviolently disarms weapons using hammers inspired by Mike 4:2-4, beat swords into plowshares. Mostly, he writes in Swedish, but here are some of his texts in English on nonviolence.